


books 2f (sometimes family are the ones you choose)

by mingowow



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, FRIENDSHIP GALORE, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Minor Misunderstandings, best friends mingyu & soonyoung, big ol chosen family, there's some brief coups/jeonghan, winter cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-22 19:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17066000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mingowow/pseuds/mingowow
Summary: Maybe Mingyu really is better off living his life out as a fisherman down in Mokpo... rather than wasting another day hopelessly trying to hone his magic skills.





	books 2f (sometimes family are the ones you choose)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hamshi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamshi/gifts).



> hi kara! 
> 
> happy holidays! i hope this year has been good to you and that this fic can be something you enjoy at the tail end of it!
> 
> i did my best to incorporate as many of your likes/wants into it as i could, without going too ott. i didn’t feel super confident in my knowledge of all things from the hp world, so i decided to create my own magical realm set in the real world (which is right up my alley, so thank you for that!) hopefully you enjoy it still and this fic can make your holiday season a little brighter. or at least make you smile!
> 
> xo  
> your secret santa~
> 
> ps thanks to those who ran this exchange and happy holidays to everyone!!
> 
> extra thanks to L for her help and for always putting up with me ♡

Mingyu was eleven years old when he first did something... well, weird.

It wasn’t much. In fact, it was something that his mother had written off as tricking the eye, a silly little game her son devised in attempts to awe (or spook) her. And while Mingyu was tickled that his mother thought he had such talents for being a magician, he knew the truth.

When he slid around coins on the kitchen table, it wasn’t by magnet or nearly invisible string. When he had a dream one night about his father slipping on ice and the next day he came home with his arm in a sling, it wasn’t merely coincidence.

The first person Mingyu outright told about his newfound abilities was his best friend, Soonyoung.

“So you can lift a car over my head?” Soonyoung had asked, simultaneously intrigued by his friend’s admission while also seeming less than impressed by his limitations.

“No,” Mingyu scoffed. “I’m not Superman or something.”

“Well, then can you at least start a fire just by thinking about it?”

Mingyu huffed in annoyance. “No! Look, this is all new to me, so maybe I’m like a superhero and I gotta train myself to do cooler stuff, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Soonyoung had sat up from where he was lounging on his bed and squinted his eyes at something past Mingyu’s head.

When Mingyu turned around, he gasped at the sight of a box of Kleenex going up in spontaneous flames.

“Hyung!”

Mingyu had swatted at the flames in vain until they suddenly, and rapidly, disappeared. The Kleenex box was left fully intact, not a char or fleck of ash to be seen.

When he had looked back at Soonyoung, the elder was smirking.

“Hate to break it to you, bud, but you aren’t the only one with superhuman powers.” Mingyu’s jaw went slack. “And clearly _I_ am the superior one.”

So it had been that Soonyoung had discovered his special abilities around the same time as Mingyu had. Their timelines had fit perfectly, minus the small fact that Soonyoung’s powers seemed to improve and progress at a much faster rate than Mingyu’s. That hadn’t been the easiest pill to swallow. While Soonyoung learned to control his abilities, Mingyu was a bag of surprises. Sometimes things worked, sometimes they didn’t.

It was nice to know that he had someone who understood what he was going through though, even if it was coupled with relentless teasing at his supposed inferior skill set. The comfort of having Soonyoung there with him had encouraged the pair to sit down both of sets of their parents to confess (and display) just what they could do.

The whole scenario went much more normally than Mingyu had anticipated, which was a relief. His father had sternly requested that the next time he had a dream about someone getting injured, he tell them immediately. And his mother had not-so-jokingly asked if his powers could be used to help complete more chores around the house.

(Soonyoung’s mother had insisted the boys obtained these abilities because of the produce they had both been eating from her parents’ farm; Soonyoung’s grandparents had supplied both households with most of their fruit and veggies since they were young. Evidently some Olympic gold medalist had been a customer of theirs too, so _of course_ it was the only natural explanation for their sons’ sudden prowesses.

“Yeah, I can make shit happen with just my thoughts because I eat special organic radish and sweet potatoes,” Soonyoung had whispered to him with a snort.)

Evidently neither of Mingyu’s parents had the “gift”, nor did any of his grandparents. But after a long phone conversation with his favorite grandma, he learned _supposedly_ his great grandmother on his maternal side had a knack for making unnatural or unbelievable things occur. Everyone else in the family just seemed to look the other way though. Things were different back then, she had told him. But he didn’t fully understand what that meant in the context of magical powers.

Thankfully, for Mingyu’s sake, the times had developed some since his great grandmother was puttering about moving things with her mind and having everyone else ignore it. There were online groups (well hidden, of course, as most people don’t want to advertise their children having “unique” talents) that his parents had found and eventually, it led to a school of sorts for young adults like him and Soonyoung.

The school was shielded by a major university in Seoul so while the boys would be attending college classes just like everyone else their age, it also offered them supplemental courses focused on more... peculiar specialties.

It seemed absurd at first, the thought of taking a potions class like he was a striped scarf-wearing Gryffindor (Soonyoung always argued Mingyu was _definitely_ a Hufflepuff, but he never wanted to accept it) in some ridiculously pretentious wizarding school. He had already been living a double life for so long, having to keep it a secret from everyone except his family and best friend. His parents didn’t even let him tell his younger sister about it until she was 13 because they were worried about her revealing it to somebody else.

The thought of having to lead an even more complicated life had seemed less than appealing.

“You’ll be with me and other people like us, you won’t have to hide anything from them,” Soonyoung had tried to reason with him. “They’re all cool, I promise.”

That was easy for his hyung to say, given that Soonyoung’s abilities had done nothing but exponentially grow and evolve in the years of their adolescence. Mingyu’s, on the other hand, had floundered pathetically; at the age of eighteen, his skills were on par with where Soonyoung’s had been when he was sixteen.

Perhaps it was slight bitterness, since Soonyoung was older and had taken off the year before to join the school, leaving Mingyu to wallow in his existential misery without his best friend’s constant physical presence. But Mingyu was so reluctant to attend the school that it took his parents threatening to send him down to Mokpo to work a fishing boat with his grandfather for him to finally relent and accept.

And so, three years later, this is where Mingyu finds himself. A third year engineering student at a prestigious national university.

And a floundering third year student at Seoul’s most (secretly) renowned school for witches and warlocks (wizards, he had learned, was an outdated term for what they were).

The shared dorm he lives in is rather nice. It’s a larger apartment tucked away on a quiet street and their neighbors are scarce (or elderly) so there isn’t much need to downplay what goes on inside their walls. Someone is always practicing or demonstrating what they learned in class. It’s not uncommon to find the odd animal scurrying about inside (due to Jihoon’s ability to transfigure or just Seungcheol’s habit of forgetting to close windows) the apartment, nor is it odd for potent smells, both offensive and intoxicating, to waft from room to room. Charred marks mar the countertops and potion stains cling to sofa cushions, no matter how much Mingyu tries his best to remove them, using both traditional and enchanted measures.

But at least his efforts are generally always appreciated by his roommates.

He was quick to bond with Wonwoo, despite how different the two of them are. For a short period of time, he had worried over the thought that the older didn’t like him, but he eventually learned that his tendency to lounge around someone quietly and contently was a positive sign. Wonwoo brings a definite sense of balance to the house because while he does often chime in on some of the mischievous happenings that occur there, he is often the first to offer wise advice or opinions when Mingyu needs them most.

Wonwoo is by far the most talented of the boys in their dorm. He learns quickly, with ease, and luckily for all of them, he’s also a wonderful tutor. While his abilities in all areas are strong, he has an affinity for spells and potions. Spell-casting had always been one of the more difficult courses for Mingyu (“probably due to your lisp,” Soonyoung had teased him before), so having a hyung to really work with him in improving his skills is a colossal blessing.

Seungcheol had graduated from their school the year before but decided to stay on as a mentor of sorts; the school offered him additional courses and free housing as payment for his work too. Even though he is the oldest, he often acts like the youngest of the group. He’s the first to start horsing around and, by Mingyu’s standards, he’s the messiest out of the five of them. But despite his childish behavior, Mingyu is very fond of him. Their connection is the most older/younger brother one he has and while he’s all too aware of his hyung’s “quirks”, he admires Seungcheol all the same.

Jihoon had been a bit intimidating when Mingyu first met him but it was short-lived. Despite the shorter’s vocal distaste for physical affection, his actions always spoke louder. Every time Mingyu envelopes him in a hug or cuddles up to him on the couch, Jihoon never pushes him away. Mingyu likes to think he’s special, that he’s the one who easily broke through the other’s slightly tougher exterior, but he knows that Jihoon really is just soft all around. After all, how could someone who willingly spends their days in adorable cat form not _actually_ be a ball of cuteness?

And, of course, there was Soonyoung. Not much had changed between the two childhood best friends. They had been roommates Mingyu’s first year in the dorm but that had swiftly changed the following year (given the relationship developments between Soonyoung and Wonwoo). Despite Mingyu’s initial (and very, very tiny) best friend envy at having to share his best friend, he quickly found himself becoming the third wheel. And, to most everyone’s surprise, the couple had happily accepted it. It wasn’t odd to find the three of them curled up together watching a movie or Mingyu occasionally tagging along on their dates. It was a bit awkward at times, sure, but more than anything, Mingyu enjoys the feeling of being included. Even if he sometimes misreads the air and has to be flat out asked by one of the other two to leave them be for some _actual_ alone time.

Overall, Mingyu is happy with his life in the dorm.

But school... that’s another beast entirely.

Engineering is something that came quite naturally to him. Math and numbers are quick to compute and make sense in his brain; he had always loved designing and constructing things growing up, so getting to do it each day is a treat. But the other side of his life always leaves something to be desired.

For all his intelligence in real world matters, Mingyu is an awful warlock student. He has scraped by each year, barely passing and tumbling around at the bottom of the barrel that is his class. The other students know it too, the way they all subtly try to avoid being partnered with him for activities and projects. Mingyu’s fully aware of this, something that gnaws away at his pride and self-worth. Something that often makes him want to pack up his things and accept his life as a fisherman in Mokpo.

But then there are his friends, his roommates, the literal lights of his life. The only things that keep him from breaking down on any given day.

“You aren’t _trying_ again,” Wonwoo heaves with a sigh, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Mingyu goes from glaring at the murky liquid inside the mini cauldron in front of him to staring down his hyung. “What do you mean I’m not trying?! You are watching me right now, you can _see_ I’m trying!”

This was Mingyu’s eighth failed attempt of the evening at trying to create a truth expelling potion. Wonwoo had told him it was easy enough, something many first year students could successfully concoct. Yet here was Mingyu, a third year, unable to make it happen.

“You’re going through the motions but there isn’t any conviction in your words or actions,” Wonwoo tells him, his voice not harsh but the words stinging all the same. Mingyu sighs, drearily.

“I don’t get what you mean. I’m doing as I’m told.”

“Do you actually want to make this potion?”

“Of course I do! I need to pass the class,” Mingyu whines. Wonwoo rolls his eyes.

“I’m not talking about the class. Do you actually have an eagerness to learn how to concoct it?”

Mingyu pauses at the question, his eyes falling down to his purple stained fingertips. The amount of elderberries he’s had to mash by hand will take eons to wash from his skin.

Despite the years he’s been at the magical academy, Mingyu has always felt a slight... disenchantment at learning new skills. It wasn’t that he is ungrateful for his powers or the opportunity but, truthfully, the reality that he is such a lagging, slow learner had always discouraged him from seriously pursuing getting better.

“It’s always so easy for you, hyung,” he admits in a soft voice. He feels Wonwoo place a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not always easy. But it’s definitely harder if you don’t have a true desire to learn these kinds of things, Mingyu.”

The tension in the room is shattered by a scream down the hall.

“Kwon Soonyoung!” Jihoon’s voice rings out.

And as if timed perfectly, Soonyoung comes sliding into his shared bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him. His face is flushed and crinkled with laughter.

“Oh my god, I got it on video this time,” Soonyoung wheezes between labored breaths. He fiddles around with his phone, always being a bit technologically challenged despite his aptitude in other (arguably) more complicated areas.

Finally he shows the screen to the two boys on the floor and in the unsteady video, the pair watch as Soonyoung politely requests a studying Jihoon to perform aegyo.

And he does, quickly and willingly, pouting his lips and poking at his soft cheeks with his index fingers. Video Soonyoung squeals and suddenly the haze that Jihoon is under lifts. His eyebrows pinch and he screeches out Soonyoung’s full name as the video abruptly ends.

Mingyu stifles a giggle and Wonwoo sighs, though there is a smile on his lips.

“He’s going to find out what you did, hyung. He’s not stupid,” Mingyu tells him, though secretly he hopes this escapade can continue for a while longer.

“What? Why would he assume that I, a spell novice by comparison, would be the one to enchant him with a cuteness-on-command charm?” Soonyoung asks with a grin.

“Because, my dear, he knows that I am not idiotic enough to do such a thing to him,” Wonwoo reasons, jabbing at Soonyoung’s stomach.

“You’re the one who taught me it!”

“That cannot be proven!” the four-eyed boy quickly interjects.

Mingyu smiles fondly at their squabbling, his frustration over potions and magic in general drifting to the back of his mind.

Yes, even if he doesn’t find as much joy and excitement in being a warlock as his closest friends do, he’s glad that the opportunity allows him to spend these kinds of moments with them.

**\---**

It’s Mingyu’s favorite time of year, the tail-end of fall. Seoul is a sight to see in the autumn, even if it’s coupled with outrageous downpours of rain and erratically fluctuating weather. Soonyoung, the show-off he is, manages to turn a dreary rainy day (it’s on day three of straight rain and even Wonwoo, who has an affinity for gloomy weather, is sick of it) into a partly cloudy, cool afternoon. His element and weather manipulation abilities are no joke these days.

Mingyu knows he has a colossal mountain of studying to do for his exams coming up (both of the traditional and magic variety), but an invitation from Wonwoo to join him at new bookstore he’s been told about seems much more appealing.

Soonyoung tags along too, which makes it an unofficial “threesome date”, as Soonyoung calls it. Wonwoo reminds him again that he should never, _ever_ , refer to it as that. Especially in public.

It’s a good twenty minute bus ride from campus but when they finally arrive at the store, Mingyu thinks it was worth the trip. It’s on the second floor of a ordinary officetel building; there isn’t a name for it posted on the outside aside from a vague lettering of ‘BOOKS 2F’.

But the interior is something to behold.

The lighting is dim and cozy, more the atmosphere of a cafe than a retail place, but Mingyu isn’t about to complain about it. The walls are painted a darker swirl of caramel colors and there are plushy chairs and sofas scattered about. There’s a nice scent wafting through the air, floral yet herby, encouraging him to release the tension he didn’t realize he was holding in his shoulders.

Wonwoo has already wandered off down an aisle and Soonyoung is busy toying with a children’s pop-up book he picked up on a shelf near the door. Mingyu isn’t sure where to head; the aisles of books are all suspiciously vague with their names. One reads “Life Affirmation” and another “For Empty Days”. He’s partially curious but more intimidated, too much so to venture down one all on his own.

Off in the corner, he spots a small vintage cart with instant coffee and a hot water dispenser atop it. That seems more his speed.

He gathers the courage to at least stride over there and he’s only picked up a packet of Maxim when he feels a tap on his shoulder, followed by someone clearing their throat.

“May I help you?” the male asks. He shoots Mingyu a smile but it doesn’t read as entirely genuine. His hair is a dark chocolate color, long enough to just tuck behind his ears.

“Um,” Mingyu replies, dumbly.

“Coffee is only for customers. Or potential customers,” the employee tells him. Mingyu spots his nametag then, pinned to his maroon shirt. ‘Hello, I’m Jeonghan’, it reads.

“Oh god, hyung. Ease up, will you?” another voice calls out, causing Mingyu to drag his eyes away from the man in front of him. Emerging from an aisle is another employee, a black knit hat pulled down just over the tops of his ears. Mingyu can’t read his name clearly aside from, ‘Hello, I’m Han--’.

“We need to put our foot down! I’m sick of these schoolboys trotting in and slinking away with all our coffee, which is intended as an act of service to _actual customers_ ,” Jeonghan rants. He crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at Mingyu, who cautiously puts the Maxim packet down.

“I’m... I’m a customer?” He doesn’t intend for his voice to raise in a questioning way but it does. The tone only makes Jeonghan huff.

“Sorry about him, he’s just a bit cranky today,” the knit-hat boy tells him with a sympathetic smile (a genuine one). Mingyu can finally read his name-tag properly: Hansol.

“It’s okay. Um, I’m gonna find my friends,” Mingyu rushes out, swerving around the two employees and heading down a random aisle.

He’s so focused on getting away that it takes him multiple strides before he realizes the lights above him have dimmed considerably; their brightness is softened by semi-sheer purple drapery that is elegantly strung from the ceiling, all along the tops of the bookshelves. It’s rather intimate and romantic feeling.

His feet slow to a stop and he takes a moment to curiously scan over the books surrounding him. The first few titles he reads have his eyebrows knitting together and it takes him a moment to connect the dots.

“’Effective Ways to Lengthen Libido Longevity’?” he reads aloud from a particularly thick hardcover spine. The lettering is in gold leaf and the leather binding appears worn, well used. All of these books appear to have sexual connotations of some sort.

“Can I help you find something?”

Mingyu all but jumps out of his skin as he whips around and sees yet _another_ employee standing a few feet from him. The guy is smiling lightly, his long black bangs tickling at his eyes as he blinks over at Mingyu. His name tag is covered by the unbuttoned shirt he has on over the maroon polo and Mingyu realizes he’s lingering too much on the other’s chest trying to read it.

“Uh, no. I’m doing fine,” he says without thinking, before recalling what kind of section he happens to be standing it. “I mean. I came down the wrong aisle.” He can feel his face rapidly heating up. “I was looking for my friends, I thought they might be here.”

He realizes he changed his story three times in the span of five seconds. But if the employee, who peers at him over the rim of his round glasses, seems to be suspicious at all, he hides it well. He merely shrugs.

Mingyu’s eyes keep flitting around the other’s face, from the cute shape of his ears to the almost unnatural length of his neck. _Pretty_ , Mingyu thinks, his stomach bubbling at the realization this his mind conjured that thought so easily and quickly.

“There were two guys here a minute ago. I think they popped over to the next aisle.”

If anything breaks him out of his little trance, it’s that. Mingyu internally shudders at the thought of Soonyoung and Wonwoo perusing these kinds of books together before he offers a tight-lipped smile to the worker and darts off to the end of the row, turning the corner.

Thankfully he sees his two friends huddled together over a book in the middle of the next aisle. Mild relief washes over him as he hurries over to them.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Soonyoung huffs, his cheeks puffing out in a manner that Mingyu finds obnoxiously adorable. Wonwoo seems to agree by the way he grins and pokes at one of them.

“Do you want Jihoonie to murder you before the semester ends?”

“He wouldn’t! It’s not like I do it _that_ often anymore.”

Mingyu joined the conversation late but he deduces that they are talking about the spell Soonyoung had cast on their roommate earlier in the fall. Wonwoo had (drunkenly) taught him a command spell, one that would force the bearer to commit whatever act assigned whenever the caster demands. Soonyoung (who had been intoxicated as well) thought it would be hilarious to try out the spell on Jihoon and make his friend have to act cute whenever he requested.

To be honest, it _is_ hilarious. Mingyu thought it might get old but he never truthfully tired of seeing Jihoon’s random outbursts of aegyo.

“Yeah, but you _still_ do it sometimes. Jihoon has lived with it long enough and now, I can help you fix it.”

“Help me?! I don’t want to fix it! If you’re so hellbent on lifting it, you can do it on your own.”

Mingyu stands off to the side, between the two of them, his head bouncing back and forth.

“Haven’t you had enough of him seeking his revenge? Just end this stupid rivalry now,” Wonwoo sighs.

“Mingyu,” Soonyoung says, finally acknowledging his presence and turning to look at his best friend. “Will you kindly tell Wonwoo yours thoughts on the matter?”

Mingyu blinks. “My thoughts?”

“Yes. Don’t you think it’s funny when I say, ‘Jihoon, act cute please!’ and he obeys?”

“Well, yeah, but--”

“See? Mingyu agrees!” Soonyoung interjects before Mingyu can finish giving his input.

There’s a beat of silence before all of their phones suddenly chirp with KakaoTalk notifications. Wonwoo is the first to pull out his phone and when he reads it, he rolls his eyes.

“Wait to go, idiot.”

“What?” Soonyoung frowns. Wonwoo shows him his phone and Mingyu peers in to read it too.

Of course, while his intention was to only mimic the way in which he forces Jihoon to act in an adorable manner, when Soonyoung had said the command, Jihoon had been forced to comply. The spell was a powerful one; it didn’t matter how far apart they seemed to be, the words always had their desired effect whenever Soonyoung uttered them.

Which was evident by Jihoon’s extremely enraged KKT message to their dorm group chat, followed by a dozen exclamation points and a sticker of one cartoon duck strangling another.

Mingyu has to stifle his laughter with a fake cough.

“Oh boohoo,” Soonyoung snorts, unable to bite back his smile. “What’s he gonna do? Magically dye my hair neon green again? I worked that prank like it was intentional.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s on a study date right now and the fact that you find so much amusement in torturing him is just more incentive for me to make you right this wrong,” Wonwoo argues, turning and walking away with the book tucked under his arm. That was clearly the end of the discussion.

“He’s such a wet blanket sometimes,” Soonyoung whines. Mingyu doesn’t agree but he keeps his mouth shut, following after his best friend as he defeatedly begins waddling down the aisle.

Mingyu’s eyes scan the assortment of books on the shelves, a few words catching his eye. Namely ones like ‘Curses’ and ‘Benevolent’ and ‘Charms’.

“Hyung, what kind of bookstore is this?” he asks, his voice dropping down to a whisper. His gaze flickers up to the chain sign swinging above the aisle; it reads ‘Light As A Feather’.

“Hmm? I don’t know, one of those off-beat ones Wonwoo likes so much, I guess.”

Despite his best friend seeming unbothered by the fact that the store sells occult literature, more specifically the kinds that contain spells and magic Wonwoo actually wants to _learn_ , Mingyu is a bit on edge.

The pair make their way to the register where Wonwoo is checking out with a now pleasantly smiling Jeonghan. Mingyu feels a tap on his arm and when he looks over, he sees knit hat boy, Hansol, with a paper cup of steaming coffee in his hand.

“Sorry for the trouble,” he apologizes, extending the cup to Mingyu, who takes it with a small smile.

“Thanks.”

Jeonghan bids Wonwoo a pleasant farewell, his eyes flickering over to Mingyu for a moment before the warlock sheepishly looks away. It’s then that he notices the third employee, with boy with long bangs and a gentle smile, hovering at the end of the aisle labeled “HYPNOTIC, PSYCHOTIC, EROTIC”. Mingyu suddenly feels like it’s all too warm in the store.

“Have a good day,” Hansol says, stealing Mingyu’s attention again.

“Yeah, you too.”

The three friends shuffle out of the store and once they are outside, Soonyoung is all but frolicking down the street, dancing as he hops over rain puddles on the sidewalk.

Wonwoo is talking to Mingyu about his plans to reverse the curse on Jihoon but Mingyu is only half-listening. It’s not intentional but his mind is still working out what kind of place they had just visited it. He keeps thinking of Jeonghan’s defensive nature, Hansol’s apologetic words.

And the cute long-haired boy in the erotic-psychotic-robotic-aquatic aisle.

**\---**

The dorm apartment is above a family owned restaurant that rents the room to the school. Evidently Mrs. Song, the matriarch, is a witch, a fact Mingyu hadn’t learned until his second year. She’s a sweet woman with a low, raspy laugh; sometimes she’ll leave containers of banchan for the boys outside their door. Mingyu’s never seen any left outside the other rooms of the small building, so it always makes him feel a little bit special when the packages are delivered.

There’s also a usable rooftop on their building that the boys aren’t really supposed to venture to. It’s locked with a keypad but using a few tricks (magic), Wonwoo was able to crack it. Mingyu doesn’t think Mrs. Song would mind but they keep it hush-hush regardless. It’s not too big of a deal, they reason. It isn’t like they’re smoking or doing anything illegal. Just occasionally they will sneak their way up there, to admire the night skyline of Seoul and the Han or get a brief moment of privacy.

It’s gotten nippier, to the point where Mingyu’s started wearing his scarf when he steps outside. It’s especially cold in the early morning, like now, where with each quiet exhale, he can see a small puff of his own breath. While his fingers start going a bit numb inside the poorly insulated pockets of his light jacket, the sharpness of the air wakes him up and the sight before him is quite beautiful.

Mingyu’s reason for needing a moment to reflect this morning is because of his classes (the magical ones, of course).

The semester will be wrapping up shortly and with the impending end comes final projects, one of which is having to concoct his own variation of a potion and correctly administer it to someone.

The open-ended nature and freedom within the project should be a relief; Mingyu can do pretty much whatever he wants and as long as the professor believes it demonstrates a respectable amount of skill and knowledge, and it performs as it should, he passes.

But so much freedom isn’t something Mingyu considers a blessing. Potions is a struggle enough for him with step-by-step guidelines and Wonwoo holding his hand throughout each attempt. But having to think up something on his own, and find a willing subject to drink it... that seems daunting.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Soonyoung says, suddenly hovering behind him, making Mingyu jump. He hadn’t even heard the rooftop door open.

“Jesus. I wish people would stop sneaking up on me,” Mingyu sighs, throwing a glance at the shorter male before looking back out at the sunrise.

He feels Soonyoung press his cheek against the back of his shoulder, his arms coming up to loosely hug him around the waist. Mingyu pulls his hands from his pockets and squeezes his hyung’s, fingers icy.

“You know, stressing out and worrying about it won’t help at all. You’re just making it harder for yourself.” Soonyoung’s voice is muffled against the fabric of Mingyu’s jacket.

“I know, I know. But what happens if I fail? Has anyone even flunked out of magic school before?”

“No, I don’t think so. And I don’t think you could flunk out. You’d just have to retake the course.”

Mingyu groans. “That’s almost worse! So then I’m the old guy in the class who sucks ass at magic.”

Soonyoung lets out an airy laugh and Mingyu finds it difficult to not smile at the sound.

“You’ll be okay, really. We’ll all help you with it, whatever you need.”

Mingyu’s heart swells, remembering that he is more than lucky to have such great friends, such a loyal support system. His eyes start to water at their corners but he convinces himself that it is because of the freezing wind whipping against his face.

“Thanks, hyung.” He turns his head to peer down at Soonyoung over his shoulder, the best he can. “I love you.”

Soonyoung hums in reply, giving him a little squeeze.

Mingyu had thought Seungcheol might be a good point of reference on where to start with his project. After all, he has gone through all the courses that Mingyu has so far. If anyone knows the school and what it takes to pass (and graduate), it’s him.

The two are sitting cross-legged in the living room, playing a two-person racing game. Jihoon is lying stretched out on the couch behind them, madly tapping away at his phone.

“I mean I can tell you what I did but you can’t copy it. If you do, Professor Seo is gonna know you got it from me. She knows I chaperone you guys,” Seungcheol tells him.

“ _Chaperone_ ,” Jihoon snorts, injecting himself into the conversation. “What kind of chaperone are you? Not that any of us need any chaperoning. If anyone needs a babysitter, it’s you.”

“Oh yeah, is that what you think? Who threatened Wonwoo to remove your cute curse?”

“It wasn’t Wonwoo,” both Mingyu and Jihoon say in unison.

“Bullshit! We all know Soonyoung doesn’t have those kinds of spell capabilities yet,” Seungcheol argues.

Mingyu is grateful for the sudden squabbling because his hyung is distracted from their race, crashing into a wall and allowing Mingyu to zoom into the lead.

“Maybe he wormed the incantation out of Wonwoo, but it was definitely Soonyoung. Why do you think he’s the only one who can make me... ugh, do _that_ stuff.” Jihoon’s voice is heavy with disgust; it only makes Mingyu giggle to himself. “So see, some chaperone you are. Your lack of competency has you going after the wrong suspect.”

Seungcheol grunts out a very deep sound at that, letting his game controller fall to the floor with a thud. His sudden rise in emotions causes a half-full can of Coke to flip off the end table, spilling everywhere.

Mingyu really hates his telekinetic abilities sometimes, especially when he ends up having to clean up after them.

“Soonyoung!” Seungcheol hollers, voice booming. “Jihoon wants to do something cute!”

Jihoon springs up from his lounging position, scrambling towards the eldest roommate. “You asshole!”

“Our Jihoonie!” Soonyoung’s voice calls out from down the hall. Mingyu thinks he can hear Wonwoo telling him, ‘no, don’t’ or something of the sort. “Please act cutely!”

Mingyu’s controller falls too as he whips around to look at Jihoon; he can’t miss this, not when it’s happening right in front of him again.

Jihoon’s body goes rigid before his hands fly up to his face, framing his chin.

“Boing, boing!” the senior says in an adorably high-pitched voice, his head tilting side to side with each syllable.

Seungcheol erupts into laughter and Mingyu dissolves into it too. Over the roaring, Mingyu can hear Wonwoo scolding Soonyoung down the hall but it gets drowned out by Jihoon’s screaming as he snaps out of the daze and launches himself onto Seungcheol, a full-on wrestling match breaking out in the middle of the living room.

Two more cans of Coke end up spilling and the armchair ends up overturned, but it’s worth the clean up getting to watch such a sight between two of his hyungs.

**\---**

Truthfully, Mingyu was starting to feel guilty for all the times he showed up in front of Wonwoo, tail between his legs and in need of assistance. Wonwoo had the busiest, and toughest, schedule out of all of them. He could handle it of course, he wouldn’t drown himself in schoolwork if he wasn’t able to juggle it all. But Mingyu still felt bad each time he added another task onto his hyung’s already long list.

“Let’s think of it this way,” Wonwoo says, never looking up from his transmutation course textbook, “is there any problem or issue that you wish you could fix?”

“Like what?” Mingyu asks blankly. He has his Magical Creatures textbook open in front of him but he’s hardly read more than a paragraph, opting to trace countless circles around the illustration of a centaur.

“I can’t answer that for you. See, this is what I mean, Mingyu.” Wonwoo sighs, lifting his head finally and staring at him straight-on. Mingyu involuntarily gulps. “You have to care about these kinds of things. If you really, truly wanted to learn this stuff, you could think of _something_ that you wanted to do. I can’t force feed you personal goals to carry out.”

Mingyu clicks his tongue but he knows deep down that Wonwoo is right.

“Look, if you really don’t have any ideas, why not try doing some research on potions and see if anything piques your interest? Head to the library or to that bookstore we went to before.”

Mingyu’s ears perk up at that mention: the bookstore. “The weird one where the guy wouldn’t let me drink coffee?”

“Yeah. They have loads of stuff. I’m sure you’d be able to find something there that interests you.”

He knows Wonwoo is speaking about books but the first thought that pops into his mind is the shaggy-haired boy that embarrassingly found him lost in the adult aisle. Erotic-chaotic-neurotic.

The next day, the temperature dips below freezing. Mingyu isn’t mentally prepared for it yet so he layers on shirt after shirt before pulling out his winter coat and waddling his way to the bus stop.

He remembers how to get to the bookstore but by the time he arrives, he’s suddenly nervous. He’s half-tempted to feign confusion and message his hyungs that he’s lost, hoping one of them will swing by and lead him there.

But nope, no. He’s gotta stop being a baby and relying on his roommates for everything. So taking in a steadying breath, he climbs the stairs to the mysteriously nondescript ‘BOOKS 2F’.

When he enters this time, he’s hit with a scent stronger than the one he recalls from his first visit. It’s spicy and warm, tickling at his nose in a way that has him bracing for a sneeze that never comes.

Mingyu’s rubbing at his nose when he sees someone approach him from the corner of his eye.

“Hi again,” a voice chirps out.

Mingyu looks up, nose twitching. It’s Hansol, this time wearing a grey knit cap instead of a black one.

“Oh, hey.”

“Can I help you with finding anything today?”

“Um. Well, I--” Mingyu stumbles over his words; it feels odd to speak about magic with someone he’s not certain has any direct connection to it. But if Wonwoo said this was a good and safe place to come, he should trust him. “I’m looking for some books on p-potions?”

Hansol bobs his head a few times before motioning with his hand for Mingyu to follow, which he does. He’s led down an aisle, the lights softening in a comforting way, the spicy scent intensifying. He spots the ‘Light As A Feather’ sign slowly waving above them. Mingyu thinks he hears the sound of a crackling fire but he doesn’t know which direction it comes from.

“Here you go. These three shelves are all primarily potion spell books and the like. Was there anything else you needed?”

Mingyu pauses, lifting a hand and gnawing at his thumbnail. It couldn’t hurt to ask, as silly as he feels doing so...

“Uh, yeah, actually... _is-your-coworker-here_?” he rushes out, avoiding holding direct eye contact with Hansol for too long.

“Who?” Hansol asks with a tilt of his head. “Ah! Jeonghan? No, don’t worry. Help yourself to all the coffee you like,” he laughs lightly.

“No, um, not him. The other one? He had longer black hair. And glasses?”

Hansol’s eyes seem to light up with recognition. “Oh, Minghao? Yeah, he’s somewhere in the back. Did you want me to get him?”

“No! No, it’s okay. I was just... wondering.”

Hansol shrugs and Mingyu offers him an awkward smile before the employee bounces off, leaving him alone.

The books before him are quite intimidating; there are so many and he doesn’t know where to begin so he grabs the one the appears prettiest to him, with deep imprinted letters on a dark purple spine. The title reads “Potent Potion Potables”.

At the end of the aisle is a velvety covered chaise littered with pillows. It’s very extravagant looking, like something from a Marie Antoinette period piece, curled claw feet and shiny, meticulously carved wooden trim. Mingyu decides to camp out on it with a graceless flop and begins flipping through the heavy book blindly, not knowing what he is looking for.

It surprises him how quickly he gets sucked into the pages. Even though he doesn’t have an idea of what to look for, he’s still intrigued by all the possibilities the textbook covers. From quick thirty minute brews that could have one’s hair changing colors based on their emotions, to more complex concoctions that take eons to stew and... ripen into their full potential. One of those in particular really catvhes his eye: it claimed that the drinker would always be able to get in the last word, something Mingyu thinks would be beyond beneficial considering he’s always getting teased and (lovingly) pushed around by his roommates.

But of course the one potion that really speaks to him takes _four and a half months_ to mature to completion. His final project is due in a little over a month.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Mingyu flips through the last fifty pages or so with his thumb before closing the book with a quiet ‘thud’. In his immersion, he’s somehow slipped down on the chaise, the back of his head resting against the wooden ridge along the top. He’s got a few pillows tucked under his arms and he feels more comfortable than he probably should in a public setting that is definitely not the apartment. But he feels bold enough to pull a leg up, extending it outward enough so his shoe hangs off the edge, not dirtying the pretty fabric. Between the cocoon-like position he’s got himself in and the warmth from his layers of clothing, he feels almost drowsy.

He holds the heavy book to his chest and allows his eyes to flutter closed.

He doesn’t know how long they’re resting before he’s startled by a voice.

“Are you finding everything alright?”

The book slips from his grasp as he springs up, tumbling to the floor and opening to a random page as it lands. Mingyu blinks up at the voice and as if he’s moving in slow motion, his brain finally connects the voice to the face in front of him and then to the memories he has of the employee curiously peering down at him.

It’s the pretty long-haired boy from before, the one who caught him innocently wandering into the _suggestive_ book section. Erotic-idiotic. One can only draw so many conclusions from that kind of encounter.

Mingyu’s cheeks heat up.

“Um,” he clears his throat, straightening his posture a bit since he knows he sits like a hunchback most of the time. “Yeah, I’m good. Just... perusing.”

The cute employee cocks an eyebrow and Mingyu thinks he catches the corner of his mouth twitching. “Perusing?”

Attempting to swallow his embarrassment, Mingyu forcibly pulls his eyes from the other’s face and spots his name tag. Just as Hansol had said, it states Minghao.

“Yeah. I’m just looking for some reference material.” He realizes then that the book is no long in his grasp and he frantically looks around for it before spotting it by his foot. Picking it up, he snaps it shut and holds the front cover to his chest.

Sure, this guy works in a very strange bookstore that seems to cater to interests directly related to Mingyu’s secret life... but he still feels uneasy being so open about his identity. It’s always been first-nature for him to conceal it.

“Just like you were looking for reference material when I saw you last time?”

“Right, yes,” Mingyu quickly replies without thinking.

It takes him a moment to process what his answer implied but by the way Minghao bites back on his lip before letting out the sweetest, airiest sounding giggle Mingyu has ever heard... it finally hits him.

“I mean no! No, I wasn’t _perusing_ back then. In the erotic… narcotic… whatever. No!”

The boy just laughs even more, his face squishing together in a way that would be adorable if Mingyu didn’t want to spontaneously combust right this moment. Too bad there wasn’t an instant potion for something like that.

“Really! I was lost and looking for my friends, I’m not... I’m not looking for stuff like that.”

It’s another few seconds (which feel like an eternity to Mingyu) before the employee steadies his breathing. His cheeks and ears are flushed from lack of oxygen and Mingyu wishes the chaise would simply swallow him whole.

“I’m just joking with you,” Minghao says with one last, soft giggle. He pushes his bangs back off his face and Mingyu catches himself staring again, despite his dying embarrassment. “What are you researching?”

Minghao leans his back against one of the heavy bookcases, feet crossing at the ankles. Mingyu wiggles in his seat, fingers drumming on the book in his ironclad grasp. Should he be honest or skirt away from the conversation? He knows lying isn’t an option, given his incapability to do it convincingly.

“Just... some ideas for a school project.” There, a truth. A vague one but still, it’s the truth.

Minghao crosses his arms across his chest. “What kind of project?”

Mingyu swallows and he can feel his Adam’s apple bob.

“I have to create something. It’s really broad and open to interpretation so I guess I’m a little overwhelmed by it.”

The employee hums. “Well. I’m no expert on mixing concoctions myself but there’s one book I have heard good things about from some previous customers. I think we might have one edition left.”

Minghao pushes himself off the bookcase and wanders down an aisle.

Mingyu sits, rigid, the purple bound book still in his hands. He must not have been quick enough to conceal its contents or title. Or, maybe, Minghao’s knowledge of their book selection is just _that_ impressive.

He goes back and forth with how to proceed, if he should bolt now to avoid this conversation entirely or not. But he remains unmoved, anchored by some voice in the back of his head reminding him he seriously needs to figure out what he’s gonna do or he’ll be a forty-year-old warlock student in a class of twenty-somethings.

And, admittedly, he’s slightly tickled at the thought of speaking with the other male more, even with his humiliation growing and blossoming by the second.

Before he can sort through the jumbled mess that is his brain, Minghao emerges from the row of books, a dark brown leather brick of text in his grasp. He stops just in front of Mingyu, who suddenly feels small, despite the other’s lithe physique.

“Here. I think you’ll find it more helpful than the TV infomercial junk that you got there.”

The book is much lighter than it appears when Mingyu carefully takes it from the worker. The leather is smooth and somehow warm to the touch. It reminds him of living flesh, of something’s skin, and he’s a bit creeped out by the realization.

“Thanks,” he murmurs, turning the book around in his hands.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Minghao tells him, already wandering away.

Mingyu has half the thought to call out for him but he doesn’t know what to say. Well, he _does_ want to ask how Minghao apparently knows so much. Sure, it’s one thing to know the books he’s selling and what customers tend to buy, but something about this whole encounter seems a little off to him.

But no, now is not the time for him to get sidetracked by a boy, no matter how cute or mysterious he may be. Or how ridiculously intoxicating his laughter is, even when directed at Mingyu himself.

With a determined huff, he settles back into the chaise and opens the book in his lap, prepared to be much more thorough in his skimming and _perusing_ of it. After all, it came recommended to him by what he hopes is a reliable source.

When he looks down and sees blank page after blank page, each one empty as he flips through them all, he has to wonder if he’s being teased or made fun of. The boy did seem to enjoy laughing at his expense.

Was this some kind of joke? Did Minghao think it was funny to give him a completely barren book, devoid of any words, let alone any potions?

Mingyu confusion and humiliation bubbles over into something he’s not sure he’s ever felt like this before.

Complete distress.

**\---**

“What an asshole!”

Wonwoo sighs. “Soonyoung, calm down.”

Mingyu is currently sandwiched between the couple on their living room couch, slouched down enough so that his head can roll back and forth between both of their shoulders. He knows he’s being a big ol’ baby but he can’t help being sensitive to these types of issues. It was one thing for one of his friends to tease him, but for some random guy (ugh, some random _cute_ guy) to do it to him… he feels slightly mortified.

“Calm down? He publicly humiliated our Gyu! What kind of person does that?!” Soonyoung huffs, mouth drawn down and cheeks puffed out in anger. Mingyu would find it endearing if he didn’t want the ground to split open and swallow him up.

“An asshole?” Wonwoo replies dully. Soonyoung nods aggressively, missing the humor entirely.

“I just don’t get why he did it,” Mingyu whines, kicking his foot against the low coffee table in front of them. He feels Wonwoo pat at his hair and Soonyoung squeeze him with the arm looped around his midsection.

“Are you sure the book was actually empty?” Wonwoo asks. Mingyu’s chin jerks up to look at his hyung and he hears Soonyoung gasp.

“Of course it was! I know I’m supposedly an idiot but I can still read, hyung.” Mingyu usually hates being self-deprecating but he’s particularly moody today, so he allows it.

“I’m not saying you’re dumb. But maybe there’s an enchantment you have to say for the pages to reveal themselves, or something like that.”

Mingyu’s pout deepens. “Then why would he give me the book and not tell me that?”

“Yeah, Wonwoo, why would he do that?” Soonyoung chimes in. Mingyu feels Wonwoo’s fingers leave his hair and hears a soft thud against Soonyoung’s skull. “Ow!”

“I don’t know! I don’t know this guy. Yeah, I get why you’re upset and extremely embarrassed,” Mingyu’s face heats up at the obvious yet still distressing truth, “but why would an employee want to humiliate a customer? That’s just bad business on so many levels.”

Mingyu scoots up in his position, turning around to look at Wonwoo, his arms childishly folding across his chest. “It’s not just him. That Jeonghan guy was scary too.”

Wonwoo opens his mouth to reply but Soonyoung cuts him off. “That’s right! Wow, great place you picked out, Wonwoo.”

The named rolls his eyes and pushes himself up off the couch. “Oh my god, you two are insufferable together.”

Mingyu’s bottom lip juts out but Soonyoung tightens his arms around his stomach and pulls the younger towards him, hugging him close.

“You love us!” Soonyoung calls out, Wonwoo not bothering to turn back around and instead just waving his hand at them. “It’s okay, Gyu. Just forget about him. We’ll find someplace else for you to research.”

Mingyu just grunts in reply, letting out a high-pitched whine when he feels his best friend press a kiss to the side of his head.

The first snow of the season comes a few days later.

Mingyu is returning home from his one of his engineering classes, eyes stupidly glued to the screen of his phone as he walks. He sees a couple tiny flakes flutter down and melt against Seungcheol’s Instagram picture of a sleeping cat (undoubtedly Jihoon) along with the caption: “isn’t he the cutest~?’’

When he gets back to the apartment, all of his roommates are funneling out the door of the building, winter hats tugged over their ears and gloves slipped onto their hands.

“Mingyu! Throw your backpack inside and join us!” Soonyoung tells him, a large grin stretched across his face.

“Where are you guys going?” he asks, glancing down when he feels Jihoon try and tug his backpack off his shoulder.

“Ice skating. The outdoor rink opened this past weekend and it’s the first snow, so…” Wonwoo trails off, his glasses slightly fogged up.

“ _Sooo_ it’s the perfect time to go ice skating!” Soonyoung unnecessarily adds on. Mingyu smiles lightly but it falls away quickly at the thought of all the work he still needs to do.

“Sounds fun. But I should really keep researching--”

“Stop, stop,” Seungcheol chimes in, letting Jihoon slip behind him, back into the building. “You’ve had your head buried in books for days now, you need a break or you’re going to spontaneously combust.”

Mingyu realizes then that his backpack is gone and most likely in Jihoon’s possession. Soonyoung pulls out a scarf from who knows where and loops it around the taller’s neck a few times.

“Really, I’m fine,” Mingyu protests, trying to swerve around all of them and slip into the building. As if sharing one brain, the three all simultaneously block him from entering. “Guys, c’mon.”

“Mingyu, a few hours of fun will be good for you,” Wonwoo says, poking him in the chest to step back.

“Yeah. Plus you’ll come in handy when Wonwoo gets tired of me dragging him down every time I slip and fall,” Soonyoung tells him. “Then I can just cling onto you instead.”

“Great,” Mingyu replies, blankly.

Jihoon reemerges from the apartment without his backpack and instead a pair of fuzzy black earmuffs. He has to push himself up on his tiptoes to put them on Mingyu’s head, which is enough to make the younger finally break out into a smile.

“Come on, you big galoot. Time to flex your Olympic Champion muscles.”

For all the clumsiness Mingyu possesses, he’s quite the proficient ice skater. He attributes it to his athletic ability because while he does have an awful habit of dropping items and knocking into things, he is pretty graceful on his feet.

Jihoon is stiff as a board, his knees unbending as he _oh so slowly_ skirts around on the ice. Seungcheol tries to egg him on by circling around him and attempting little stunts, like squatting down or balancing on one blade. He almost always ends up on his butt though, so Jihoon ultimately gets the last laugh.

As Soonyoung predicted, he is holding Wonwoo back. Wonwoo, for all the skinny legs he is, can hold his own on a pair of skates. But Soonyoung is an utter mess, mainly due to his over-excitement and tendency to try to go too hard too fast. And he never lets go of Wonwoo’s arm, which results in him either bent over yanking Soonyoung back to his feet or flat on the ice beside him.

Mingyu does laps around his friends, grinning at their antics and swiftly avoiding any octopus arms from Soonyoung as he calls out Mingyu’s name for help each time he passes.

He’s looking over his shoulder, laughing at the couple as Soonyoung’s arms windmill around in attempt to find balance, when he knocks into something. Or rather someone.

Of course, his clumsiness has to manifest itself in one way or another.

Steadying himself on his ice skates, he looks up and sees someone down on their hands and knees on the ice in front of him. Their jacket is long and black, sleek looking. It’s a contrast to the cute yellow knit hat they have on, with large stringed pom poms dangling from it on either side.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” he blurts out, bending down to check on the person. He naturally reaches out and offers an arm to help them stand up. When they turn their head to look up at him, Mingyu’s breath catches in his throat.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” Minghao smiles up at him and it seems to take him a moment before he recognizes Mingyu’s face because his eyes suddenly light up and his smile stretches a bit wider. “Oh! It’s you!”

Mingyu doesn’t know what to say so instead he gives a tight-lipped smile as Minghao grabs onto the offered arm to pull himself up. Mingyu thinks he holds on a little longer than he needs to, after he’s already stable on his feet, but he couldn’t shrug the guy off, especially after he just ran into him.

“I’m really sorry about that, I was distracted,” Mingyu apologizes again, already shuffling away on his skates.

His cheeks feel warmer than before and he knows it’s slight shame bubbling up. Minghao is still looking at him with a smile and he knows the guy must be internally cracking up. _It’s this moron again_ , he’s probably thinking.

“It’s okay. Better to bump into a familiar face than a stranger, right?”

Mingyu just smiles politely in reply. He gives a small bow and is about to zoom off into the distance but, of course, his friends have impeccable timing.

“Mingyu!” Soonyoung sing-songs out to him, still irongripping Wonwoo’s forearm as the couple shakily skates towards them. “Oh! Who’s this?”

He sighs heavily but can’t ignore the way that his friends and Minghao exchange genuine smiles and nods of the head.

“This is Minghao.” _From that stupid BOOKS 2F place_ , he mentally adds on.

He knows he can’t bring that up now, not if he doesn’t want Soonyoung to cause a scene right here and now. Because he will, that’s the kind of fiercely loyal best friend he is; hot-headed at times but very endearing. Mingyu would rather have the unpredictable eruption happen in the safety of their own home.

The three exchange greetings and Mingyu awkwardly chips away at the ice with the front of one of his skate blades.

“Let’s leave the two of them alone,” he overhears Wonwoo whisper and part of Mingyu wants to die because he knows what that kind of statement implies.

Minghao seems completely unbothered though, still smiling and radiating that soft look of his. The round tip of his nose is tinted red too, like he’s been outside too long. His ears peek out from under his hat, sticking out ever so slightly. Mingyu hates how his first thought is that it’s cute, _he’s_ cute.

He’s quick to shove that thought way and let his prior annoyance and bruised ego emerge to the forefront. Because Minghao was rude! This guy is a jerk.

And what kind of massive jerk can still act all pleasant after the prank he pulled?

When his friends skate off with a little wave, Mingyu huffs, letting out a cloud of hot air. He knows they think they’re doing him a favor but in reality, he feels a bit abandoned.

He turns around and takes off slowly, trying to appear as natural as possible.

He doesn’t expect the other to follow after and appear beside him, keeping with his speed.

“So, Mingyu?”

“What?” he replies, a bit curt.

“That’s your name? Mingyu?”

Mingyu glances over at him, Minghao’s eyebrows raised and lips twitching as if he’s trying to be playful. But Mingyu feels a little sheepish realizing that he never did properly introduce himself to the other. Not that he would or should at this point, but still.

“Yeah, I’m Mingyu.” Silence falls between them and he can hear the other sniffle a few times.

“I like your earmuffs,” Minghao says with the smallest of laughs.

Mingyu feels a sudden burst of embarrassment, pulling the black fuzzy earmuffs down more securely on his head. He doesn’t say anything in reply; what could he possibly say?

“How’s the research coming? Did that book help you at all?”

Mingyu pushes the flat side of his left blade into the ice, jerking to a sudden stop. He straightens his posture and rights his shoulders, taking in a deep breath. He’s embarrassed but annoyance is winning out right now. He doesn’t know this guy at all, he has no right to be poking fun at him like this, adding insult to injury.

Still skating forward, Minghao glances over his shoulder at him curiously, eventually and slowly stopping too.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Mingyu asks. Minghao blinks at him.

“Is what supposed to be funny?”

Mingyu clenches his jaw and looks away, spotting his four friends on the other side of the rink. Soonyoung just happens to be staring in his direction too and waves at him before throwing a not-so-subtle thumbs up.

“I gotta get back to my friends,” he lies, pushing off the ice and skating towards his roommates.

Mingyu doesn’t like confrontation, he doesn’t like fighting. And even if part of his ego is telling him to stand-up to this guy, his heart wins out in the end. It’s not worth it; he knows he’d just feel worse after the fact.

He never looks back and he doesn’t hear Minghao call out for him at all, thankfully. Hopefully he got the message, loud and clear.

When Mingyu arrives at his friends, Soonyoung is suddenly skating loops around them all on his own; they’re slow circles, but he’s doing it somewhat gracefully and without having to white-knuckle grip onto someone else.

“Mingyu! Look, I finally got it!” he calls out, voice overflowing with genuine joy. His grin is wide and his eyes curved happily. The wind causes the flaps of his hat to flutter and it’s enough of a cute image to lighten his mood a bit.

“Wow, about time,” Mingyu replies, stopping beside Wonwoo. Despite his annoyance at the interaction he just had, he can’t help the small smile that tugs at the corners of his lips as Soonyoung skates off on his own, down the length of rink.

“How long you gonna let this go on before you admit to him that you enchanted his skates?” Jihoon asks.

Mingyu barks out a laugh because _of course_ Soonyoung hadn’t miraculously learned to ice skate after all these years. His best friend does a slow little spin as a young girl watches him curiously before mimicking his movements.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Wonwoo states blankly. But even behind the slight fog of his glasses, Mingyu can see the way his eyes are sparkling.

He wonders what that must feel like, to have that kind of adoration for someone.

**\---**

Mingyu knows it’s cliche. He knows that his professor will most likely roll his eyes and write him off as another lazy student just aiming to pass (which, at this point, he pretty much is). But he’s under the gun, the deadline is less than two weeks away; he doesn’t have much of a choice.

“A love potion?” Seungcheol snorts, when he peers over Mingyu’s shoulder as he sits hunched at his desk.

“Not just your run-of-the-mill love potion. It’s more like… an adoration potion,” Mingyu explains lamely, never looking up from his notes. He’s been making a detailed list of all the ingredients he needs, where to get them, and how he’ll have to time the brewing.

Seungcheol makes another throaty sound, more like a laugh.

“And what’s the difference exactly?”

“I don’t want someone to confess their undying love to me or something. But it’d be nice to feel admired,” he admits, sitting up straight at the realization of what he is sharing. “To have someone look at you fondly, even if you do something ridiculous or dumb.”

He feels Seungcheol flick the shell of his ear, causing him to flinch. Mingyu pouts up at him but he’s met with an unamused expression.

“You idiot, you already have four people that look at you like that.”

Mingyu knows that’s true, though he’d argue that the things he does aren’t _dumb_. His hyungs just like to tease him about things because he’s quick to get defensive or pouty (and according to all of them, that’s just too much fun to resist).

But the kind of adoration he’s talking about doesn’t exist within the realm of his friendships with any of them. Sure, he and Soonyoung have a bond that is unlike any other and he knows it can’t be replaced or duplicated, but that can also be said about Soonyoung’s relationship with Wonwoo. It’s one of a kind, it’s special and unique in ways that best friends just aren’t with one another.

“I know you guys do, and I appreciate you all for that. Even though half the things you guys make fun of me for aren’t fair.” Seungcheol opens his mouth to probably disagree, but Mingyu is too quick. “But this is just a different kind of thing. The sort of thing Soonyoung and Wonwoo have.”

And that’s the kind of thing Mingyu wants to experience, at least once.

Of course, in an ideal world, he wouldn’t have to use such extreme (and morally questionable) means to fulfill a wish that most people have and the lucky few get to experience. But he’s reminded himself enough so far that he’s not looking for lifelong love, it’s not that deep. He just wonders what it’s like to be so purely admired by someone, to the point where they would secretly charm your ice skates to make you think you miraculously got the hang of skating, just because they want to see you smile.

“What Soonyoung and Wonwoo have is love, Mingyu.”

Putting down his pen, Mingyu turns in his desk chair to finally look properly at the older boy. “I know that. I’m not hoping to get something _exactly_ like that, okay? It’s just for school and everyone keeps breathing down my neck to find something personal, that I really want to do. And this is what I came up with. Okay?”

It’s a bit snappier than he intends to be but thankfully Seungcheol doesn’t seem put off by it. All he does is cross his arms across his chest.

“Alright, fine. So then who do you wanna use this _adoration_ potion on then?”

Mingyu’s head tilts, as if he doesn’t understand the question at all. But truthfully it’s a very valid (and important) question that he hasn’t really considered. Concocting the potion is only one half of the project and his grade. The other part relied entirely on how well (or not so well) the brew worked on a person.

With a low groan, Mingyu smacks his head down onto his desk. He feels Seungcheol squeeze his shoulder before faintly hearing his footsteps pad out of the room.

Mingyu’s love life has pretty much always been about as dead as a doornail. Between engineering school and the whole being-a-warlock thing, he’s never really found the time or drive to date much. There was a girl during high school he saw for a few months before she grew tired (Bored? Annoyed at his inability to share certain things about himself, like the whole secret double life thing? He never really knew for sure) of things. And he met a nice guy through Wonwoo his freshman year but it never evolved into anything beyond a couple of dates.

For someone so keen on physical affection and loads of personal attention, as well as an affinity for the idea of romance, he’s baffled he can’t think of one potential person he’d even consider asking to help him out with this.

He mulls over it nonstop, for days.

It’s a Friday evening and while Seungcheol is out with his friends who have graduated and Soonyoung and Wonwoo are out on a date night, Mingyu finds himself alone with his books and notes and piles of assorted ingredients he’s begun to collect. He’s just about ready to start brewing because he has everything weighed and measured. The only thing he doesn’t have bagged is one of his own eyelashes, which is perhaps the most important component of all.

He’s double-counting the number of foxglove buds he has when an orange cat suddenly hops onto his lap.

“Oh! Hi hyung,” he smiles, stroking the animal’s fur and feeling Jihoon’s purrs vibrate against his hand. “Staying in tonight?”

Jihoon meows quietly before glancing at the desktop and sitting down on the younger’s legs.

“Me too. I’m gonna start brewing tomorrow, I think. Even though I don’t know who to ask to help me with this, I should get started. Know anyone who wouldn’t mind being my guinea pig?”

The cat pops back onto his feet and hisses, eliciting a chuckle from Mingyu. He can see Jihoon’s glare clearly, even while he’s in his feline form.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare ask you. But if you know anyone I might be interested in, let me know. I’m pretty desperate at this point.”

He doesn’t mean to sound so pathetic and he’d be more embarrassed if Jihoon was here as his human self. There is just something easier and more comforting about talking to an animal rather than a person, even if that animal is able to understand you entirely and throw pitying looks your way.

Which Jihoon does, of course, and Mingyu promptly ignores it, focusing his eyes on the list before him. He can feel his hyung knead his head against his stomach and while he doesn’t directly acknowledge him, Mingyu can’t help but smile.

He loses himself in his work, quickly double-checking everything he has with the list of materials in the book he’s referencing.

And of course, he wouldn’t be himself if everything went smoothly.

He taps his pen repeatedly against the missing ingredient, blowing out a long breath in frustration.

“Crap, I thought I had everything. Where the hell do I get _jimson weed_ this time of year?”

Obviously Jihoon isn’t of much help, opting to stretch out his long feline body across Mingyu’s lap in lieu of offering whatever advice he could, potentially, in his current state. Mingyu messages Seungcheol but he’s probably too drunk to help out or even properly read his messages.

So, Mingyu pathetically (that seems to be the theme of the night) waits for Wonwoo and Soonyoung to return home from their date. He tries not to make it as obvious by setting up his notes and ingredients out in the living room, prime position to pounce on the couple the moment they step in the door.

Jihoon is clearly judging him by the way he sits in the doorway and watches him. Mingyu pokes out his tongue at the cat who meows what Mingyu thinks is a laugh. If cats could laugh, that is.

It’s nearly 1AM by the time he hears the front door beep and open. Mingyu had been nodding off over and over for the past hour, back pressed against the couch and ondol warm under his butt. Jihoon has somehow wormed his way back onto his lap, curled up and sleeping peacefully.

“I still can’t believe you purposely ordered a level 8, you moron,” Wonwoo says with a laugh. Mingyu can hear the sound of shoes clattering against the wall and by the unsteady, loud movements, he assumes one (or both) of them is drunk.

“I need to _try_ , okay?” Soonyoung whines, voice raspier than normal. “You don’t improve unless,” he hiccups, “you try and try again.”

“Somehow I don’t think that applies for complete and utter spice intolerance.”

Mingyu finally sees the pair from around the entrance, Wonwoo’s arm looped around a staggering Soonyoung.

“Mingyu!” Soonyoung calls out cheerfully, his face bright red and bloated.

Mingyu bites back his grin and sits up, waking up a grumpy Jihoon in the process.

“Jihoonie!” the drunk boy coos, pulling away from his boyfriend to chase after the cat with outstretched arms. “Act cute please!”

The cat meows adorably from Mingyu’s lap, eyes big and round and tail fondly flicking. But within a second, Jihoon’s hackles suddenly shoot up and he hisses loudly, darting away.  
Soonyoung’s socked feet slide along the floor and he stumbles over the edge of the rug, lurching after his roommate’s animal form.

“Jihoon, you better change back before both of you get hurt!” Wonwoo calls out seriously, but there’s still a hint of a smile on his face.

“Did you guys have a good time, hyung?” Mingyu chimes in, turning his body towards the other.

Wonwoo shrugs off his jacket and gives a nod. “Yeah, it was nice. Minus this idiot ordering chicken way out of his league. He spent a good twenty minutes simultaneously sweating and crying. I thought he was gonna pass out from dehydration.”

Mingyu chuckles and nods his head. He really is listening and interested in hearing about their time together but pressing matters…

“What is it?” Wonwoo sighs, plopping down on the couch. Mingyu blinks up at him.

“What?”

“You need to ask something, I can tell.”

Mingyu’s face heats up a bit and he fiddles with a loose thread on the bottom of his pajama pants. Now isn’t the time to wuss out, not when he’s centimeters away from flunking his first class, ever.

“Do you know where I can get some jimson weed?”

“Jimson weed?” Mingyu nods, gnawing on his lower lip. “They have a stock of herbal ingredients at that one bookstore I took you to before. They might have some there.”

Mingyu’s stomach suddenly plummets and his face must too because Wonwoo’s expression softens and he’s suddenly ruffling the younger’s hair.

“You shouldn’t let one person derail you from your life. I get wanting to avoid him but wouldn’t the even better thing be to show him that he didn’t really phase you?”

Mingyu’s face contorts. “He has phased me, though.”

“Well, yeah, okay, but he doesn’t need to know that.”

There’s a loud screech from down the hall, so high-pitched that Mingyu doesn’t know if it’s from a human being or a cat. But his curiosity is sated soon enough because Soonyoung comes hobbling down the dark hallway, clutching his hand.

“He fucking _scratched_ me!” he tells them, voice high and whiney. He shows off his hand and truthfully, there’s nothing much to see besides a couple of short, faint red lines.

“You’re just a glutton for punishment tonight, trying to tackle things way beyond your capabilities,” Wonwoo teases, though his expression is filled with that of love. _Complete adoration_ , Mingyu thinks.

Soonyoung huffs and stomps his foot like an overgrown child, but he’s easily calmed when his boyfriend pulls him onto his lap and covers the side of his round, red face in kisses.

Mingyu watches the couple fondly for maybe a bit too long before he feels like he’s intruding. So quietly, he gathers up his papers and things, retiring to his room.

If he feels brave enough in the morning, he’ll venture to the bookstore. But that’s a big ‘if’.

**\---**

_BOOKS 2F_ , Mingyu snorts to himself. They couldn’t even bother properly naming the place.

It’s snowing lightly, just enough to leave a dusting of white along his shoulders and in his hair. It melts instantly once he enters the building and climbs the stairs, pushing back his bangs in attempts to shake the water out.

When he enters the store, he’s hit with the scent of cinnamon and other spices. It’s very holidays inspired, which just acts as another reminder that he has no time to waste.

Hesitantly, he glances around for any sight of an employee (namely Minghao, of course) and when he sees no one, he takes off towards the back corner of the store. That’s where Wonwoo told him there was a counter that dealt out various plants and herbs.

He’s speedwalking so intensely that he doesn’t have time to brake before he runs straight into someone carrying a ridiculously high stack of books. They tumble down everywhere, one even conking him on the head.

“Ow,” he mutters under his breath at the dull throb on his skull. He blinks a few times to regain focus and naturally, it’s Minghao standing before him. He looks stunned too, eyes wide and lips parted slightly.

“Oh my god, are you okay? I’m so sorry,” the long-haired boy rushes out, tucking the last book still in his hands under his arm. His hands reach up as if he means to touch Mingyu but he stops suddenly, body going rigid, like he finally realizes who Mingyu is.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Mingyu sighs, idly touching at his head. He feels something wet, assuming it’s snow, but when he pulls his hand away, his fingertips are stained a little red. “Oh.”

“Oh my god,” Minghao gasps. “Come with me.”

It’s not so much as a request as a command by the way he grabs Mingyu’s wrist and leads him back behind the counter nearby. He gently pushes Mingyu to sit down in a chair before be begins rifling through various drawers, pulling out little cloth bags and miniature clay pots.

Maybe it’s because he’s a bit stunned but Mingyu doesn’t say anything or move. He simply watches the other crush up some kind of aromatic pods and mix it with a thick goopy paste of some sort. He doesn’t know what any of the items are but they come together in a light lilac mixture, the texture similar to that of mashed sweet potatoes, Mingyu thinks.

“Tilt your head down,” Minghao tells him, swiping up a finger of the stuff.

“Um.”

Minghao gives him a confused look. “It’s only a recovery mask. Just trust me, please?”

He would laugh if he weren’t so dazed in the moment because why should he trust this guy at all? But the look in Minghao’s eyes reads as intense and serious, enough so to make Mingyu have to glance away from him. He doesn’t know what a recovery mask is but he submits anyway and tilts his chin down, offering his scalp to the other.

It tingles at first and then burns suddenly, making Mingyu’s eyes tear up. He squeezes them shut and feels a stubborn tear escape, cursing silently under his breath. Minghao seems to be taking his time, swiping up more of the gunk and patting it into the other’s head, layer after layer.

“All done,” Minghao says softly, after far too long.

Mingyu inhales deeply through his nose before trying to wipe at his eyes as casually as he can, sitting back in the chair. The burning continues but tapers off after a few seconds.

Silence takes over the pair again, Minghao methodically putting away various items and wiping clean the small mixing bowl he had used.

Okay, so maybe Minghao _can_ be a jerk, but the fact that he seems to be trying to help Mingyu out now is enough to have a bit of guilt bubbling up in his stomach. If he’s kind enough to give him a hand here, the least Mingyu can do is be cordial and polite.

“So... “ Mingyu starts, once his scalp feels normal again, aside from the dried, caked on plaster it feels like is coating his hair. He’s tempted to scratch at it but he’s also partly afraid to try anything. “You’re a warlock?”

The look Minghao sends him is the most incredulous expression he thinks he’s ever seen. Again, he’d laugh if he wasn’t on edge; and he does let out a strangled sound that could be considered a giggle, if it weren’t for the fact that he tries to cover it with a cough.

“Uh, no,” is all the employee says, turning his back to the other as he wipes his hands on a small towel.

Mingyu blinks, tilting his head in thought because if he isn’t a warlock, he doesn’t know how he would know all this stuff. He knows sometimes regular people like to dabble in witchcraft, for “edgy” purposes or because their lives seem to be a walking Hot Topic ad campaign, but Minghao doesn’t seem like the type. There’s a lightness to him that Mingyu can’t exactly explain.

Minghao steps in front of him again, gently pushing his head down and and parting his hair with his fingertips. Mingyu feels something wet and soft gently swipe at his scalp, a few flickers of tingles shooting down his skull, but in a way that’s nice and kind of rejuvenating.

“There, all better.”

Lifting his head, Mingyu watches him wring out a washcloth in a shallow bowl, the water a mixture of light purple and rust color. He feels at his scalp, noting wetness, but his fingers come away blood free.

“You healed it?”

Minghao lets out a small sigh, avoiding the other’s gaze. “Of course. That’s what a recovery mask does.”

Mingyu’s mouth forms a small ‘o’ but he says nothing.

That’s when something in the air seems to change, Minghao’s posture straightening and the vigor with which he’s squeezing the washcloth intensifying. Mingyu’s eyes keep flickering to his white knuckles and he has to swallow the small lump in his throat.

“Did I…” Minghao starts, slapping the wet cloth down on the countertop. He seems to regret his intensity though, with the way he pauses to lick over his lips and stretch out his fingertips. They’re so impossibly long and thin, Mingyu doesn’t mean to stare at them, but he can’t help it. “Did I somehow offend you before or something?”

It’s probably not the best reaction but Mingyu lets out a laugh anyway because what kind of ridiculous question is that? Did Minghao _offend_ him? At which point? When he acted as if he wanted to help out and instead handed him an empty book with a smile? Or when they bumped into each other again and he acted as if he hadn’t done anything wrong at all?

Oh, how Mingyu wants to ask all that in so many words. But he’s never been the eloquent type, especially in times of stress. And he can practically feel his blood pressure rising.

“I mean… yeah,” is all he’s able to mumble out, a shell of the words and feelings bubbling up inside him. His face feels hot and his limbs heavy, like he’s chained to the chair he’s sitting on.

He tries to prepare himself to fight, for some argument to be had, and he recites his complaints over and over in his head, trying to psych himself up enough to spill everything.

What he doesn’t expect is Minghao’s face to twist into something that looks like… confusion. Hurt confusion. The way his eyebrows draw together and his frown deepens, it reads as genuine distress. Mingyu reminds himself that he shouldn’t, but he feels sorry for the other and it takes a mental reminder to keep himself from asking him if he’s alright.

“How? What did I do?”

Any bite that Mingyu wished to deliver dissipates and instead, he’s left with a heavy chest and awkward, fidgety movements. He can’t even hold the other’s gaze for very long because, somehow, he feels guilty. Like _he_ did something wrong, even though he knows he hasn’t. Nervously, he tossels his damp hair around with a shaky hand.

“I don’t know why you’re asking that. Did you think I wouldn’t be embarrassed?”

“Embarrassed? About what?”

“The book!”

Minghao’s eyes narrow in a squint, his body seeming to relax some as he rests his weight on one of his hands, leaning back on the counter. “What about it? Was it too advanced?”

Mingyu blows out a hot breath, slouching back. Why was this being dragged out even more?

“See? _This_ is what offends me! You pranked me, fine, whatever. That alone is a douchey move when I don’t even know you at all. But then you go and feign innocence! What kind of person can do all that with a smile? When we ran into each other at the ice rink--”

“Actually, you ran into me,” Minghao interjects, which only spurs Mingyu on, his previous feelings of remorse momentarily forgotten.

“You keep acting like you did nothing wrong! Like you didn’t hand me an empty book and then scurry off to laugh at the dumb warlock student who can’t come up with a decent potion to save his life!”

Minghao balks at something, leaning back and eyes going wide.

“Warlock?” is all he says and Mingyu has to roll his eyes.

“Uh, _yeah_. Why else would I be studying up on potions? I’m not a bored mortal or something.”

Suddenly, Minghao is laughing. His hand is covering his face but these high-pitched giggles are erupting from him and Mingyu can still see how his eyes are crinkled from the laughter.

Mingyu’s fuming now, proverbial steam blowing out of his ears, but before his tongue is able to start working, Minghao turns around and stalks off down one of the aisles.

Mingyu stands to take off himself, storm out of there and never come back. He’ll just flunk his final due to lack of completing the potion and have to redo the course next semester, or accept his fate as a fisherman in Mokpo. Both cases seem more appealing than dealing with this for another moment.

But he can’t even get to the other side of the counter before Minghao is back, clutching a large leatherbound book in his hands.

The same book he had given to Mingyu before.

He corners Mingyu and holds up the cover to him, the taller’s eyes flitting over it.

“Are you getting off on reminding me about this?” he asks with a heave, arms defensively folding against his chest.

“Look at it,” Minghao tells him, eyes practically twinkling.

“What? Seriously, what’s your problem?”

“Read the title!”

Mingyu’s about to bite back but his eyes act out on their own and flicker to the title imprinted on the leather cover. There are too many words for him to read quickly, the title spreading across four lines. But he catches some words that make him pause: ‘Fae Elixirs’.

“Fae?” he reads dumbly, glancing back at Minghao, who slowly smiles.

“I thought…” Minghao starts giggling again, pulling the book against his chest. “I thought you were…”

“Wait, you thought I was a _fairy_?” Mingyu asks, incredulously. He doesn’t know whether to be flattered or upset, or neither. But he is confused because for as gentle as he knows he is, his physical stature doesn’t exude fae at all.

Truthfully he’s never even met a fae before. Or at least that he’s aware of.

“Only fae can read this book, so I just… I’m so sorry. I promise I didn’t give you it as some cruel joke or something. I wouldn’t do that.”

Mingyu’s face blossoms with a deep blush, Wonwoo’s words echoing in his head. The book wasn’t really empty after all. Of course, his hyung was usually always right when it comes to things like this. He mentally berates himself for not trusting Wonwoo more.

“Only fae can read it?”

Minghao nods, flipping it open to a random page and showing it to Mingyu. It appears blank to him but Minghao’s finger traces a line along the thick paper. “It’s enchanted so only fae can read the contents. Very high quality stuff.”

“You’re…?” Mingyu trails off, cocking his head to the side. Minghao smiles at him again and he swears the boy’s eyes really sparkle this time. He can see it now, that something special and light he sensed about Minghao before. The glimmer in his eyes, the cute shape of his ears, the gracefulness in his long limbs and fingers...

“Yeah. I’m sorry I assumed you were, I shouldn’t have. But… I just felt like you were.”

Mingyu scrunches his nose. “What? Why?”

“I was really drawn to you, I guess.”

He doesn’t understand what that means, why Minghao being drawn to him would mean he was a fairy or what exactly encompasses “being drawn” to someone. But the words are enough to make his stomach do a little somersault.

“Sorry to disappoint?” he says, his voice lifting at the end to convey that it’s a joke.

Minghao grins at that and Mingyu finds himself smiling back.

**\---**

“So what, you drink this and you can suddenly, magically, communicate with fae?”

Soonyoung’s question isn’t dumb but Mingyu gives his best friend a pointed look anyway. He’s sitting on the floor of his room, mini cauldron between his legs as he precisely sprinkles in ingredients. The presentation of his potion is due tomorrow so he doesn’t have any leeway if he mucks something up.

His best friend is lounged on his bed, cheek smushed into Mingyu’s pillow and arm dangling off the side of the mattress.

“We can always communicate with fae, hyung. It’s not like they talk telepathically or something. But this potion will allow the drinker to read enchanted fae text.”

“So… like an invisible ink pen decoder?” Soonyoung asks, his lips quirking up in a smile.

“I guess? In a way.” Truthfully, Mingyu is a bit tickled that, for once, he seems to know more about something than his roommates do.

And sure, that’s not all his own doing. Every since he and Minghao cleared up their misunderstanding, the two have been talking everyday and it was the fairy himself who suggested Mingyu concoct a potion that allows non-fae folk to (temporarily) read things they aren’t supposed to.

Mingyu made a valiant effort to not be too clingy (since he has a tendency to follow around people like a love-starved puppy) but he couldn’t resist the urge to constantly message the fairy and find excuses to swing by the bookstore once in a while.

(Yes, he may have _intentionally_ forgotten to pick up all his ingredients from BOOKS 2F in one visit so he’d have a valid reason to pop by again the next day.)

But in Mingyu’s defense, Minghao never seemed to mind his bombardment of Kakao messages or surprise visits. Minghao is a timely replier, never leaving Mingyu waiting too long. And every time he stopped by the store, the warlock was greeted with an eye-sparkling, wide smile and plenty of chit chat.

Each day, every conversation, Mingyu learns something new about the other. Sometimes through their never-ending text chats (Minghao studies art and photography at the same mortal university as Mingyu), easy conversations (he hunches over when he giggles and has a prominent habit of pushing his bangs back off his forehead), or Mingyu’s own observations (his eyes really _do_ twinkle, especially when he appears genuinely happy).

And just this morning, when Mingyu stopped by because he “happened to be in the neighborhood” (he had traveled out of his way to be in the neighborhood at all), Minghao had called his wind swept hair cute. _Cute_. He used cute and Mingyu as the subject in the same sentence.

Mingyu would be lying if he didn’t admit to walking on clouds the rest of the morning because of that.

“This Minghao guy must _really_ like you,” Soonyoung says, tone playful. Mingyu feels his face heat up but he simply leans in closer to his cauldron, mixing in some crushed dandelion buds.

“He’s just being kind. He feels bad because of everything that happened.”

“Don’t you feel bad too?”

“Of course,” Mingyu sighs, mixing the clumpy concoction slowly. “I’ve apologized in at least half a dozen different ways. He doesn’t seem hung up on it, so that’s good, I suppose.”

Soonyoung hums, propping his chin up on his palm. “Sure. But he’s pretty much saving your ass from flunking at this point. So don’t you think you should somehow return the favor?”

The potion starts to aggressively bubble, the thick, deep maroon color nearly spilling over the sides. Mingyu lowers the heat on his hotplate, watching it sink down to a simmer.

“How do you propose I do that?”

“Well, Christmas is only like a week away…”

Mingyu’s head jerks up. “Christmas is a day for _couples_ ,” he interrupts, voice cracking a little. The spoon slips in his hand and he accidentally brushes the pad of his thumb against the hot pot, squealing in pain.

Shaking his head, Soonyoung sits up and presses his hands together before blowing into them. He moves onto the floor beside Mingyu, cupping the other’s red thumb in his grasp and pressing it in between his palms.

Sudden icy relief washes over Mingyu’s throbbing skin and he lets out a small sigh, smiling sheepishly at the other. Soonyoung smiles back, holding his hand tightly.

“I’m not saying you should wine and dine him or something. Maybe just get him a present to show your gratitude for everything. He’s done a lot to help you out,” Soonyoung explains before blowing on their hands again, a new wave of coolness washing over Mingyu and numbing the slowly dissolving pain. He kisses the back of the younger’s hand, which makes Mingyu pull a face. But it’s not long before there’s a smile tugging at his lips.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

The next day, the presentation goes well.

It goes better than well actually, it goes amazingly. And Professor Seo seems surprised by Mingyu’s efforts and results, which is equal parts flattering and insulting. But Mingyu isn’t about to complain, he’ll take the stellar grade with a grateful grin plastered on his face.

Minghao had graciously accompanied him to class (after all, he needed a fae to help demonstrate that the potion actually worked). And while the stuff tasted absolutely revolting (Mingyu compared it to toilet bowl cleaner mixed with shoe polish), it had done its job.

Professor Seo had secretly given Minghao a message to transcribe into enchanted fae text. It had been written with a normal pen in front of the professor and entire class, but when Minghao had uttered an enchantment over the words, they disappeared from everyone else’s sight.

And, as anticipated, Mingyu was able to read it thanks to the potion. Despite his embarrassment, he had to join his class in laughing after reading aloud the message: ‘This better work or I’ll be seeing you next semester, Mr. Kim.’

“So, were you really on the verge of flunking?” Minghao asks him, long fingers tapping on his mug of tea. Mingyu had offered to to treat him to a drink after class, his first way of saying thank you.

It was also a great excuse to spend some time with the other outside of the bookstore.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” he admits, sheepishly. What a humiliating thing to talk about. “I’m not an idiot, I swear. Just... the warlock stuff is a struggle sometimes.”

“Well, you seem to be finding your footing now.”

Mingyu snorts. “This was just one project, in one class. I still have another year to crawl through before I can relax at all.”

“Maybe. But this seems like a good trajectory now. That potion isn’t for novices. I mean, look at your friends, none of them even knew about its existence. You were the one to introduce them to it _and_ you successfully brewed it on your first try. That’s pretty impressive.”

He knows his face must be pink so Mingyu keeps his eyes trained down on his coffee, needlessly sloshing it around in his mug.

“I mean. I was only able to do all that because of you,” he tells the other, gathering enough courage to glance up at him. He wants to implode because Minghao is looking at him so softly, his head slightly cocked and smile gentle. Eyes always glimmering.

“Hm. That’s true.”

“I owe you. A lot. So… I mean I wanna repay you or, um, return the favor. It’s the least I can do.”

Minghao lets out a hum, appearing as if he’s thinking really hard. He bites back his lip before slipping a napkin towards himself and pulling out a pen. Mingyu watches as he scrawls something onto it and then whispers, lips close to the cloth. The words gradually disappear, seeping away from the napkin.

He slides it across the table and taps at it with his finger. Mingyu glances down and blinks a few times before the words seem to flow back onto the napkin. The potion must still be working in his system so he pulls the paper closer to read it, fingertips brushing against Minghao’s and soft sparks shooting off between them.

 _Go on a date with me?_ it reads.

**\---**

“You must be joking,” Jihoon deadpans.

It’s Christmas Eve and all of the roommates are gathered together for their tradition of feasting, exchanging gifts, and, of course, getting wasted. They’re on phase two of the night, present swapping, and while the floppy-earred hat Seungcheol bought for Soonyoung and the limited edition set of herbology books Mingyu got Wonwoo both went over splendidly, Soonyoung’s gift for Jihoon seems to have left the room a little… deflated.

He had just stood in front of them all and _dramatically_ recited a counter-charm to lift the one he had inflicted on Jihoon literally half a year ago.

“There’s nothing else you wanted more! I thought you’d be happy about it,” Soonyoung says, cheeks round and mouth slightly pouted. He’s standing in the middle of the living room, sweater sleeves long and covering almost all of his hands. Mingyu smiles a little, despite the strange air in the room.

“You expect me to be happy with a present that’s just you reversing some prank I’ve had to live with for months? Because _you’re_ the one who did it in the first place?”

Soonyoung opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. Wonwoo snorts from his sprawled out position on the couch and Seungcheol is grinning widely now, head bouncing back and forth between the two of them.

“That’s not a gift! You should’ve done this months ago! Hell, you shouldn’t have had to do this in the first place!”

“Okay, okay, everyone relax,” Wonwoo finally chimes in, though he doesn’t sit up at all. His glasses have slid down to the end of his nose and Mingyu can’t help but reach up from his place on the floor to push them back up.

“It took a long time to figure out how to undo it! I spent hours researching--” Soonyoung explains, before being cut off.

“You wouldn’t have had to spend any time doing it in the first place if you didn’t--”

“Oh hey! Mingyu still needs to get his present!” Seungcheol interrupts, clapping his hands together once (loudly). It brings silence to the whole room and finally has Mingyu tearing his gaze away from the two bickering roommates.

Mingyu sits up straight, excitedly patting his hands against his thighs. “Oh hyung! You got me? You always give the best presents.”

“I know,” Seungcheol sighs, a smiling twitching at his lips as he crawls over to their small, crooked Christmas tree and pulls out a small wrapped box.

Reaching out with grabby hands, Mingyu snatches the box and quickly rips off the colorful paper. Truthfully, he has no idea what to expect from his hyung and he’s a bit confused when he looks down at the gift in his hand.

It’s a dark wooden box, inlaid with dark red velvet and a thick glass lid. Set inside are four white trumpet-shaped flowers that Mingyu doesn’t recognize. Eyebrows drawn together, he looks up at his hyung for an explanation.

“They’re jimson weed flowers,” he says, smile widening.

Mingyu blinks, looking back down at the flowers and running his fingers along the glass.

“I needed the pods for the potion but I didn’t end up making it.”

“I know. I guess you can consider these like a reminder that you don’t need any kind of potion to make people admire you. And they’re enchanted, they won’t wilt. They’ll last forever. Just like you have four people that will adore you forever. ”

Something in Mingyu’s chest clenches and he has to take a breath before he’s able to look around the room at all four of his friends. Each of them is looking at him fondly, _adoringly_ , the previous argument seemingly forgotten. And he doesn’t know whether to start laughing or crying.

“Thank you, hyung,” he manages to whisper. Seungcheol ruffles his hair and Mingyu sniffles, blinking the wetness from his eyes as he cradles the box against himself.

And as if it was planned, there’s a knock at the front door that has Wonwoo springing to his feet faster than Mingyu’s ever seen him move.

“Ah! That would be part two of your present,” Wonwoo says as he scurries to the door.

“Part two? We said only one gift though?”

Soonyoung is grinning like a cheshire cat and Jihoon looks amused too, leaving Mingyu on edge. Of course his hyungs had to plan something like this, something unexpected. Probably a joke or a prank, because the gift he’s currently clutching in his grasp is far too sweet to be the only thing they came up with.

“Hey, welcome! Come in, come in!” Wonwoo’s voice rings out and Mingyu can hear the shuffling of multiple bodies.

He wonders briefly if it’s some kind of Santa Stripper, like the time Soonyoung ordered some ‘entertainment’ for Seungcheol’s birthday last year.

It’s definitely not Santa but he would have been less surprised to see a scantily-clad Saint Nick in their apartment than who is really in front of him.

Hansol, Jeonghan, and… Minghao?

Hansol and Jeonghan give a wave to everyone in the living room, Minghao hovering almost shyly behind them. His roommates all get up to greet their guests but Mingyu feels glued to the floor.

Minghao’s head pokes out from behind Jeonghan’s shoulder and his eyes lock on Mingyu, offering a small and ridiculously adorable smile.

It dawns on Mingyu then that he’s wearing a pair of ratty grey sweatpants and one of Soonyoung’s sweatshirt that is piling all over and has a mysterious brown stain on one of the sleeve cuffs.

There’s lots of chatter all of a sudden, Seungcheol with his arm oddly slung around Jeonghan’s shoulders and the rest of his roommates huddled around with Hansol, laughing loudly at who knows what.

Mingyu wants to evaporate and tries to recall an incantation he learned his second year that will shrink him down to the size of a red bean. But the words are lost on him in the heat of the moment and oh god, Minghao is wandering over towards him now.

“Hey. Merry Christmas,” the fairy says with a smile, bending down to sit on the floor beside him. They’re both cross-legged, knees bumping, and Mingyu gathers the stained sweatshirt cuff in his fist to hide it.

“Merry Christmas,” he manages to get out, despite the heat spreading in his cheeks.

Numerous glasses of mulled wine later, Mingyu feets not only toasty in his face, but all over.

Somehow (‘under his nose,’ he had huffed to his hyungs, but they insisted that he was just too busy focusing on school and _Minghao_ to notice), Wonwoo had befriended Hansol, who had introduced Jeonghan and Seungcheol casually and before they knew it, everyone was becoming fast friends.

The surprise Christmas visit was concocted by Seungcheol and Jeonghan, supposedly. Jeonghan tells Mingyu it was a way of extending an olive branch for being a bit “prickly” the first time they had met. Managing the store and going to grad school simultaneously left him pulling too many all-nighters, which resulted in “moody Yoony” (Hansol’s words) sometimes.

Mingyu is quick to call it water under the bridge, especially given the way he sees Seungcheol light up around the other. It almost reminds him of the way Soonyoung and Wonwoo gaze at each other.

It doesn’t take long for everyone to be at least a little bit tipsy, exemplified by the lack of inhibitions he witnesses from everyone now sprawled out in the living room.

Seungcheol and Jeonghan are practically cuddled together which is _cute_. Really, it’s more Seungcheol suctioning himself onto the fairy (Mingyu learns that night that all three of the BOOKS 2F workers are fae) and Jeonghan acting mildly annoyed for a moment before giving in to the embraces with an open-mouthed smile.

Soonyoung and Wonwoo are their normal doting selves. And Wonwoo saves Soonyoung’s skin more than once when Soonyoung attempts to show Jihoon that ‘ _see? The charm is gone!_ ’ by uttering fruitless commands for the shorter to act cute. Wonwoo has become more than proficient at separating the two of them when they are squabbling. But by this time in the night, the three are all relaxed and calm, Jihoon even letting Soonyoung play with his hair as he has a bottle flipping contest with a very happily drunk Hansol.

And Minghao and Mingyu have their own little world, sort of. They’re squished together in the armchair, Minghao half in Mingyu’s lap, and it’s so warm and comfortable. Mingyu’s always clingy and affectionate but around Minghao, he’s slightly more guarded because it’s just an entirely new… feeling. The alcohol has him less nervous though, allowing himself to touch the other lightly without much second thought. Hand brushing along the nape of his neck, cheek slightly resting against his shoulder, breaths mingling as they share a laugh together.

At one point, Minghao mentions he thinks the other’s pajamas are cute. Mingyu would explode into a thousand pieces if it were possible.

“So… do you have like, fairy dust or something?” Mingyu asks, his lisp more prominent than it was hours earlier. It’s only nearing midnight but he feels a bit sleepy from all the food and wine.

Minghao snorts. “Fairy dust?”

“Yeah! That can make you fly or something.”

Mingyu feels fingers thread through his hair and he leans into the touch, eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

“I can’t fly, sadly. Nor do I shrink to a size that allows me to live in a dollhouse.”

He hums in response, mind conjuring up an image of a tiny Minghao that he can slip into his pocket and carry around with him all day. He smiles and must let out a laugh because Minghao asks him what’s so funny. He just shakes his head, chin resting against the length of the fae’s shoulder.

“It’s past midnight!” Soonyoung suddenly calls out, Mingyu’s eyes blinking open. “Merry Christmas, everyone!”

There’s a chorus of ‘Merry Christmas’ that bounce around the room. Someone squeezes his shin and he thinks it’s Seungcheol but he’s too fuzzy-brained to really notice. Soonyoung says something about setting off his ‘own brand’ of fireworks and everyone eventually funnels their way out of front door (Mingyu assumes to the rooftop). But Mingyu is too comfortable and drowsy to move.

He must have nodded off for a bit because suddenly, he feels someone jostle him awake.

“Hey, before you fall asleep on me… I got a Christmas gift for you,” Minghao tells him, voice soft and mouth dangerously close to his ear. Mingyu shivers but he doesn’t feel cold at all. He remembers then, by glancing around the room, that the two of them are alone. And Minghao is still half-perched in his lap.

“A gift?”

“Yeah. Honestly, I don’t know if you’ll be into it, but I hope you are.”

Mingyu pouts a little. “It’s not a copy of ’Effective Ways to Lengthen Libido Longevity’, is it?”

Minghao’s chest rattles with laughter; Mingyu can feel it against his own body and he can’t help the wide smile that spreads across his face, though he tries to keep the pout going for effect.

“I’m afraid not.”

“I don’t have anything for you, though. I mean, I’m working on something,” a fae-detecting potion that is as much of a joke as it is proof to himself that he _can_ do magic, “but it’s not ready yet. I didn’t expect to see you today, so--” Minghao’s finger taps his nose and he quiets at the action.

“Really, don’t worry about that. But is it okay if I give mine to you now?”

Mingyu nods his head enthusiastically. Who is he to say no to a present, let alone one from perhaps the cutest, nicest, best-sounding-laugh fae he’s ever met? Correction: _guy_ he’s met.

He expects Minghao to stand so he loosens the arm he has wrapped around the other’s waist, but all Minghao does is shift his position so he is fully facing Mingyu.

His gaze is intense, his mouth relaxed and not exactly smiling but still somehow… soft. Mingyu looks up at him with wide, curious eyes and it takes his brain a second longer to process the fact that Minghao is slowly moving in closer and closer, until their lips are hovering maybe a centimeter apart. Mingyu can smell wine and something else, woodsy and warm. Minghao’s lips are redder than normal and Mingyu has to force himself to look back up at the other’s eyes.

There’s a long moment of hesitancy, Mingyu thinks maybe it’s to give him the chance to pull away if he wants to. But he doesn’t, how could he? Not when just looking at Minghao makes his stomach do a dozen somersaults and his fingertips twitch with the urge to reach out and touch him.

Mingyu gets it now, what it means to feel drawn to someone.

When their mouths meet, there’s a rush of tingling that seeps into his lips and he can hear and feel the _kabooming_ in his chest. There’s a voice in his head whispering that it’s really from the fireworks his roommates are presumably blowing off but he also knows it’s partially from inside himself. Bursting colors and sparks that ignite in his chest and extend throughout his entire body, to the tips of his toes and the ends of his fingers. His ears ring and if twinkling were a feeling, that’d be how he’d describe the feeling in his lips.

When the two part, there’s another loud crackle from outside the window. Mingyu can see a kaleidoscope of sparkling colors in Minghao’s eyes.

“Was that it?” Mingyu asks, voice low. He subconsciously licks over his lips.

Minghao’s cheeks darken and his eyes flit around, bouncing all over but always coming back to Mingyu’s mouth. “Was that what?”

“Fairy dust.”

There’s a beat of silence but then Minghao is laughing and Mingyu is laughing too, even though it is a genuine question. The happiness radiating within him is bursting and even though he’s still tired, he feels light as air when the other tugs him up and drags him out of the apartment.

It’s absolutely freezing on the roof, especially without a jacket and in only a pair of Jihoon’s too small slide slippers. But before he can even whine about it, Minghao steps in front of him and wraps Mingyu’s arms around his waist, sliding both of their hands into his coat pockets, fingers loosely threading together.

Soonyoung is putting on the performance of a lifetime, setting of invisible fireworks from his hands with unnecessary (but entertaining) sound effects from his own mouth. Everyone is clapping and hollering excitedly, as if it’s the first time they’ve seen such a display.

Mingyu doesn’t know why he does it, maybe a combination of alcohol and exhaustion and pure joy, but he finds himself suddenly yelling out between deafening booms:

“I love you all!”

Soonyoung’s motions halt and everyone turns to look at him. The sudden attention is a bit much to handle but Minghao squeezes his fingers with a small giggle and he relaxes a bit.

Everyone is swarming the two of them suddenly, arms outstretched and grabbing, clutching onto sweatshirts and curling around backs, until they’re one big huddled mess of hugs. Mingyu thinks he can feel Wonwoo’s glasses pressing into his shoulder and Jihoon’s head tucked under the crook of his arm. Minghao tightens his hold on both of his hands and Mingyu thinks in this moment, he could explode like a firework himself.

It’s the best, most adoring feeling in the world, better than anything a potion could concoct or charm could enforce.

It’s real, all natural love.


End file.
